MUMBAI, July 7 -- An investigation by the Mumbai unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into a fake birth/death certificate racket has unearthed crucial evidence that connects several key suspects, including a former Malegaon government officer, to the case. The scam pertains to the issuance of these certificates on delayed applications-made at least a year after the birth or death of a person-which are then used for nefarious purposes. The investigation so far, based on several Maharashtra police cases, has revealed the existence of a sophisticated network that issues these certificates on a large scale, ED sources said. Based on specific intelligence, the ED recently traced the bank account of one such private agent, who allegedly facilitated the preparation of fake certificates and collected bribes on behalf of a former Malegaon naib tehsildar (local revenue official) in lieu of the issuance of documents required for the certificates. "The analysis of the agent's bank account revealed that it was mainly used for the bribe money collected on behalf of the then naib tehsildar of Malegaon," said an ED source. "It was also observed that the amounts received through UPI were immediately transferred to several persons, most of whom are accused/suspects in this case." The Maharashtra government has so far suspended two local revenue officials, a tehsildar and a naib tehsildar, along with three clerks for their alleged roles in the issuance of such certificates, and they are under the ED scanner as well, the sources said. The ED's Enforcement Case Information Report is based on several cases registered by the Maharashtra police in Akola, Amravati City, Amravati Rural, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Rural, Latur, Nashik Rural and Parbhani districts. The cases were registered in connection with the submission of forged/tampered documents, including transfer certificates, school-leaving certificates, Aadhar cards and ration cards, to obtain delayed birth or death registration orders. In April, the ED conducted searches at nine locations in Malegaon as part of the probe. The ED probe suggests that a systematic approach is in place in the entire scam. "During the investigation conducted so far, it has been revealed that a sophisticated network was active for the issuance of such certificates on a large scale," the source said. The probe found that the names and other identifiers of the accused persons were not found in official records. ED officials said that forged identity documents bearing government and municipal seals and signatures were submitted to process the applications, among them fake school-leaving certificates, Aadhaar cards, ration cards, voter identity cards and transfer certificates. ED sources said that these fake certificates, amounting to identity fraud, could have been used for various illegal activities, such as securing government benefits, property rights, financial fraud and even illegal immigration. The ED is still ascertaining the full extent of the fraud. It has not made any arrests so far. The police cases were mostly registered on written complaints from various tehsildars, who said they had come across several applicants of delayed birth registration certificates with dubious claims. ED officials said that these applicants submitted supporting documents with altered credentials to procure the delayed certificates. In some cases, the authorities noticed a trend wherein people applied for multiple birth certificates with different sets of fraudulent details, indicating an organised, concerted effort to bypass the established verification procedures, ED officials said. The ED probe also revealed that fake endorsements from school authorities or government officials were also commonly obtained. "Some applicants even managed to acquire signatures or seals of the competent authorities, which were later found to be forged," an official said. Some of the applicants under the scanner also attempted to manipulate the system by submitting certificates from educational institutions that either did not exist, or if they did, possessed no records on the applicant. "It was found that the details in the submitted documents did not match the details of actual government records," an official said. Other applicants attempted to obtain delayed birth/ death registration certificates falsely claiming residence in certain districts. The probe has revealed that the essential documents required for the issuance of the delayed birth/ death certificates were invariably found to have not been issued from the jurisdictional municipal offices. Instead, fake certificates bearing dubious signatures of the concerned government authorities were submitted to the tehsil office for processing applications, officials said. Many accused in the police cases had allegedly obtained birth certificates by submitting forged mandatory official documents and fabricated identity documents (Aadhaar cards, ration cards and voter Identity cards) as well, the officials said. While the ED probe is set to expand to other districts, it has so far probed two such cases registered by the Malegaon police, which pertain to 3,127 dubious delayed birth certificates generated in just 16 months from August 2023 to December 2024. "A large number of issued certificates indicated a possible large-scale scam with beneficiaries, agents and document forgers," an official said. During its investigation, based on the receipt of bribe amounts by certain accused and suspect persons in their bank accounts, the ED obtained the statement of their accounts from the concerned banks for analysis. The latter revealed that these accounts allegedly received suspected bribe funds through UPI but a substantial amount was also allegedly received through cash deposits, the officials said....